18U House League Rules of Play 2024

18U House League InterLock Rules 2024 season

Imperial Measurements shall apply

 

1. The official start time for all games shall be a pre-set scheduled time. No new inning shall begin after one hour & 45 minutes (1:45). Dead Ball shall be after two (2) hours of play. The umpire or his designate shall be the official timekeeper.

 

2. Standard Rules of Baseball shall apply unless otherwise stated. The maximum age for players at this level is nineteen (19) years of age.

 

3. A team with fewer than seven (7) players after a fifteen (15) minute Grace Period from the scheduled start time shall forfeit that game. If neither team is able to field the minimum number of players, both teams shall forfeit the game.  When one or both teams forfeit the game, the remaining players should form two teams and play an exhibition game. The assigned umpires will remain and officiate this exhibition game.

 

4. All games shall be a maximum of seven (7) innings long, with the first 4 innings having a maximum runs allowed of 5 per half inning. Innings 5, 6 and 7 will be open innings and as many runs as possible may be scored. Three and one half (31/2) innings with the home team leading, shall constitute a game in the event of Dead Ball time or adverse weather conditions. In the event of a curfew or suspended game, the final score will revert back to the last complete inning. When curfew is called, the current batter shall be allowed to complete his at bat. Mercy Rule: Should a team be leading by ten (10) runs after five (5) innings, they shall be awarded the win.

 

5. Only wooden, composite wood or bamboo bats shall be allowed on the field, that of the batter and the on-deck batter but, must be approved by the game umpire. Metal bats including composite bats, and playerʼs shoes with metal cleats are not permitted. Players shall not wear any visible jewelry except medic alerts. A pitcher who wears a medic alert bracelet should wear it on his/her non pitching wrist.

 

 

6. All players shall wear the same uniform, that is, regulation baseball pants, sponsor coloured shirt and matching hat. All batters and runners shall wear a helmet. Catchers shall wear full protective equipment behind the plate. Coaches and players are required to wear a mask while warming up a pitcher anywhere in the ball park including behind the dugout or in the bullpen. First Offense: Team will receive a warning. Second Offense: The offending person WILL BE Ejected. All players are allowed to wear sunglasses.

 

7. Players may be called up from a lower house league team, but not from another team in the same division. These players shall not have priority playing time over regular team players or be allowed to pitch.


8. There are no restrictions on which positions players must play during a game. No player shall sit twice until all players have sat once. 


9. Players shall bat in their proper rotation and the batting order cannot change after the game commences. Players who arrive late shall be added to the bottom of the batting order. For play-off games, once a player misses batting for the 2nd time, he/she will not be permitted to bat in that game. Coaches are required to make every effort to change the batting order for all regular season games to ensure that all players have the chance to bat at the top and bottom of the order as evenly as possible. (Not applicable to playoff games)

 

 

10. Pitchers are allowed to pitch for a maximum of 4 partial or full innings.   Pitchers can be changed at any time during the course of the game or inning; however, once a pitcher is removed from the mound he may not pitch in that game again. New pitchers are permitted five (5) warm-up pitches to start the game and three (3) warm-up pitches after that. Players can catch for only 4 innings. Balks shall be called without warning.

Pitchers are allowed to wear Compression Sleeves on pitching arms, but they cannot be white, gray or distracting in nature. Must be one solid color. Determined by the umpire.

 

11. Teams will be permitted two (2) visits to the mound per inning to confer with their pitcher. The third (3rd) such visit shall result in the pitcher being removed from the mound. A mound visit shall occur when any team member crosses the foul line, has communication with the pitcher or causes play to be delayed.

 

12. Pre-game infield warm ups are not permitted

 

13. With two (2) outs and the catcher on base, he shall be replaced by the last player called out.

 

14. There is no “A Runner Must Slide'' rule. Runners are therefore instructed to slide to avoid contact. If contact does occur, only the umpire shall have authority to interpret and enforce the Malicious Contact Rule.

 

15. If there is an injured player, the following shall apply:

a) If a player becomes injured during the game, a coach must state this prior to the start of that teamʼs offensive inning.

b) If the injury occurs during the at bat, then the next batter will take over with the same count.

c) If the injured player is unable to bat at all, then the offensive team will skip over that player without an out being registered and the batting order would continue from that point.

d) An injured player would then be out of the rest of the game and would not be allowed to play.

 

16. Playoff standing and positions will be determined by the Goalline Computer Program, but subject to change by VP of Senior House League or UIC.

 

17.  ELECTRONIC DEVICES: The use and possession of electronic devices on the playing field is now prohibited by all participants.  This includes players, coaches, managers and umpires. Umpires will ask players, coaches or managers to immediately remove electronic devices from the playing field. Failure to do so will result in ejection. Electronic devices include Mobile Phones, PDA, Pagers, Tablets, Laptops, Smart Watches and Fitbits.  Only Dedicated watches or stopwatches and electronic pitch counters are permitted. It is a safety issue that all participants on the field of play are focused during a game.

 

18.  Bench Restriction Rule: Baseball Ontario has introduced a new tool for umpires to assist with game management, The Bench Restriction.  This allows the umpire to restrict a coach or manager to their bench for the remainder of the game when they commit a minor violation. The coach or manager is allowed to remain in the game but is not allowed to enter the field of play except to assist with an injured player  The coach/manager is not allowed  to argue, yell or speak to the umpire, if they do they will be ejected from the game. The umpire has the sole discretion of whether  a violation is minor or major and whether to use the Bench Restriction Rule.